Adults and children alike have amused themselves for years by propelling projectile-like gamepieces through the air with finger flicks, with the objective of achieving superior height, distance or accuracy. As this recreational pastime has developed, games using the finger flick technique have emerged to simulate well-known sports such as football, basketball and others. Recent U.S. Patents disclosing variations on this pastime include Callaghan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,783; Potter, U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,127; and Tucker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,461.
Experience in propelling a planar gamepiece through the air with a finger flick has shown that once a basic proficiency is mastered, considerable skill is required to consistently launch the gamepiece into a long, high and straight trajectory. Experimentation has revealed that the best results are typically achieved when the gamepiece is held generally upright with a planar axis pointing in the desired direction of travel. The finger flick should then be applied to the perimeter of the gamepiece at a predetermined position below the equator.
The present invention is therefore directed to a substantially planar gamepiece whose outer perimeter has one or more indentations. These indentations are located at predetermined positions on the outer perimeter so that a finger flick, when applied to the indentation, is likely to propel the gamepiece with optimum trajectory. The indentations may also be curved so as to approximate the curvature of a fingernail. In this way, the fingernail, when engaged in the indentation, will make improved contact with the outer perimeter of the gamepiece and thereby increase the chances of achieving optimum trajectory.
The preferred embodiment disclosed herein is directed to an elliptical gamepiece. Flicking this elliptical gamepiece is intended to simulate kicking a football. It will be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to elliptical-shaped gamepieces.
The present invention also discloses a protector for the gamepiece. Clearly, it is important to minimize damage to the outer perimeter of the gamepiece in order to prolong its accurate flying life. To this end, the preferred embodiment discloses a substantially planar protector providing a hole of suitable perimeter for receiving the gamepiece and storing it when not in use.
This concept of matching a gamepiece with a protector produces new and unexpected results. When a substantially planar gamepiece is received into a substantially planar protector, the gamepiece stored inside the protector provides a common planar surface. This common planar surface is suitable to be printed with collectable and tradeable images. Further, gamepieces as printed may be interchanged with various protectors bearing other printed images. As a result, gamepieces and protectors may be collected, interchanged and traded to bring added recreational value to the basic object of achieving levels of skill in flicking the gamepieces.